Sweet Sixteen Ain't So Peachy Keen
by Hecate28
Summary: Multi-Chapter Fic. Spoilers for 17x06. A Background to Jack and Katie's Relationship.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

_*Spoilers for 17x06*_

Is it possible to die of boredom?

Sixteen year old Jack Hodgson contemplated this question as he stared idly out of the classroom window. He was bored. The classroom was hot and stuffy and he teacher was droning on about a subject Jack had already grasped twenty minutes ago.

He'd been trying to amuse himself by doodling on his exercise book but that had soon gotten boring. He'd then started pulling faces at the girls in his class who had descended into a fit of giggles as a result. That had soon been stopped by his teacher with the threat of detention. So now Jack had taken to idly staring out of the window to make the time pass until he could get out of class.

Suddenly, the door clicked open and the head teacher walked in followed by another student. Jack had briefly glanced up but had soon turned back to the window, uninterested by the new turn of events. He knew it would only make his teacher forget hi place in the lesson and they'd just have to go over the lesson again.

"Excuse me for interrupting your lesson Mr Fraser," the head said "I have a new student to drop off,"

"Thank you Mr Jennings," the teacher nodded "Erm …" he struggled for a name

"This is Catherine O'Connor,"

"Katie," a voice said sharply, making Jack look up.

Standing in the front of the classroom was a girl who looked to be around the same age as him but Jack had never seen anyone like her before. She had shoulder length dark hair with bright pink streaks running through it. Her school skirt was hitched up to a very short length and she wore a black hoodie in lieu of a school blazer. On her feet were red Doc Marten's and on her face was a cocky smile.

"Right Katie," Mr Fraser said looking slightly unnerved at the girl's appearance "You just sit in the spare seat next to Jack over there,"

"The lanky git you mean?" the girl asked nodding her head over at Jack who raised an eyebrow in response to her description of things

"Just sit down," Mr Jennings said "And remember to see me at the end of the day so we can discuss your uniform arrangements,"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Katie said as she slinked down the aisle of the classroom and flung herself onto the empty chair next to Jack in the most unfeminine manner Jack had ever seen.

"Thank you Mr Jennings," the teacher said, sounding none too thankful for the appearance of the new girl. He turned back to the board, evidently flustered by the turn of events "Right, now where was I?" he paused for a moment "I think we should go back over the last thing I was teaching just to make sure you all understand it,"

Jack groaned loudly as he flopped down on his desk, earning himself a stern look from the teacher. However, despite the commotion of the new girl's arrival the class soon quietened down again and the teacher fell back into his monotonous droning.

"Ow!" Jack hissed suddenly as he felt a sharp sensation in his ribs. He turned to one side and saw Katie sitting there with an innocent expression on her face "What the hell?" he whispered

Katie's innocent expression soon turned into a devilish smile and she slid a piece of paper across the table toward him. He looked at it suspiciously before curiosity got the better of him and he opened it up to see a rough biro caricature of their head teacher sitting before him.

Jack couldn't contain his laughter and soon the teacher had rounded in him for disrupting the class.

"What is the meaning of this!" the teacher demanded when he saw the drawing "Which of you did this?"

"Sir, it was…" Jack began

"Jack," Katie said solemnly "I don't even have a jotter to do some work in," she said innocently and Jack gazed at her in astonishment

"Detention," the teacher shouted a Jack "My office. After school,"

"Thanks, new girl," Jack said sarcastically as he moodily turned back towards the window

"My name is Katie," she corrected

"I don't care," he shrugged.

"Oh but you will," Katie said with a grin "You will very soon, Jack,"

**Author's Note: To Continue or Not To Continue, that is the Question? **


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

"And don't let me catch you behaving like that again. Are we clear?"

"Crystal clear sir," Jack sighed as he left the classroom following his detention that afternoon.

He skulked down the empty corridor, ruminating over the events of the day. Why the hell had that girl gotten him into trouble? She'd only been sitting next to him for a few minutes and he'd landed in detention.

He groaned inwardly as he realised his parents would find out about this. They'd already told him that if he got another detention then he'd be grounded for a week. As he rounded the corner, he saw a figure step out of the head-teacher's office and Jack scowled as he realised who it was.

"What do you want, new girl?" Jack said as she bounded up to him with a wild grin on her face

"It's Katie actually," she corrected

"I don't care," he shrugged and carried on down the corridor

"You say that a lot," she said following after him "I don't care," Katie mimicked as she made her voice drop an octave, before bursting into a fit of giggles

"Your wit is endless," Jack said sarcastically

"I know," she grinned "And as you love my company so much; I'll let you take me out,"

Jack stopped on the spot and looked at her incredulously "Ok," he said holding up his hands "Firstly, no girl's _let_ me take them out. Secondly, I don't' fancy you. Thirdly, I think you're a pain in the arse, so scram new girl,"

"Now that's not very nice," she pouted

"Neither was landing me in detention," he countered

"Ooh!" she said suddenly "Is this what the attitude is all about. Did the nasty teacher make Jack cry?" she teased

"Get lost," he scowled

"But it made you laugh though, didn't it?" she asked

"What did?" Jack asked

"The picture," Katie said "It made you laugh. You were bored in that lesson. Bored out of your tiny little man-brain. I was trying to cheer you up,"

"You lied and made me get a detention,"

"So what?" Katie shrugged "I made that boring lesson fun. That's all the matters. Who cares about teachers or detentions?"

"You don't, clearly," Jack said "Is that all you care about?" he asked "Fun?"

Katie pondered this for a moment before nodding "What else is there to care about in life?"

"Getting into university. Getting a good job. Having a family," Jack ticked off on his fingers

Katie snorted with laughter "Boring," she said bluntly "You don't want any of those things any more than I do. I can tell that you're really quite wild. Or you want to be. Maybe you don't know how?"

"Let me guess, I have to get pink streaks in my hair and break every school uniform rule?" he said glancing again at her appearance

"Yeah that didn't go down too well with the school," she admitted

"Is that why you had to go see the head?" Jack asked

Katie nodded "That and I was given a warning," she said "I'm kind on my last chance. My last couple of schools kicked me out and I only got accepted into this school by the skin of my teeth,"

"That doesn't surprise me," Jack said as they walked out of the building, towards the school gates

"I bet I can surprise you," she said with a grin and before Jack could answer she lifted up her skirt and flashed the cars that were passing by

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Jack said pulling her to one side

Katie was doubled over laughing and it took a few moments for her too catch her breath before she answered him "I told you," she said wiping her eyes "I like fun,"

"That wasn't fun. That was illegal," Jack said

"Those terms coincide more than you might think," Katie said with a grin "At my last school I was in detention for a month for setting the sprinklers off in the gym during a school assembly on environmental pollution. They were droning on about acid rain. I just made it more interesting,"

"How old were you?" Jack asked

"Eleven," she said "I had to climb on my friend's shoulders to reach,"

"And I bet you landed your friend in detention as well," Jack asked, noting a pattern

Katie nodded "Her parents complained to the school that I was a bad influence on their daughter. She got off and my punishment got doubled,"

"Hardly seems fair," Jack said and Katie nodded in agreement

"Teacher's rarely are," she said "Think about it: that teacher put you in detention just on my word alone. He didn't even consider your side of the story,"

"Just like no-one considered yours in the sprinkler incident,"

"I told you we had a lot in common," Katie smiled and to his astonishment Jack found himself smiling back "Anyway, as pleasurable as it was talking to you I have other places to be than this old dump," she jerked her head in the direction of the school "But maybe I might come back tomorrow and see how I can liven things up around here,"

"Yeah well as long as you don't get me in any more detentions then I'm happy,"

"Where's your sense of adventure Jack?" she asked

"Where's your sense of fashion new girl?" Jack retorted

"It's Katie actually," she corrected again gently punching him in the arm

Jack just shrugged and flicked his middle finger up at her and turned to walk away. He could hear Katie laughing as he walked down the street in the opposite direction.

And he was still smiling a smile that didn't leave his face for the rest of the day.

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I will try and update this fairly regularly. I have two long train journeys (6 and half hours) over the next two days. So whilst I might not update until the end of this week I will hopefully have some time to write new chapters for all my on-going Silent Witness fics. So watch this space! **


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_

Katie didn't turn up for school the next day. Or the next. Or the day after that. 3 whole days without her. 3 whole days of peace. 3 whole days free of detention. 3 whole days where Jack had nothing to focus on but his revision and coursework.

He was bored!

"How did school go today?" his Mam asked over dinner

"Boring," Jack answered sullenly

"I thought you had biology today? You like biology don't you Jack?"

"Yeah but I get what we're doing. We're going at a snail's pace. I know it all already,"

"You wish little bro," his brother Ryan cat-called across the table

"Patience is a virtue Jack,"

"I wish I was at university already, doing all the call forensic stuff and experiments not all this boring theoretical stuff,"

"The theory underpins the practise," his Mam reminded him "And you're still set on the idea of becoming a forensic scientist then?"

"Yeah," Jack said enthusiastically "I'm going to run my own team and maybe I can even work with Professor Leo Dalton,"

"Who's that?" his Mam asked

"His boyfriend," sniggered Ryan

"Shut up,

"Jack!"

"Sorry Mam," Jack composed himself "He's a forensic pathologists who wrote a paper saying how we should combine the forensic sciences. Mr Fraser showed it to me after class,"

"Ooh after class with Mr Fraser,"

"Just 'cos you dropped out of school with no grades doesn't mean you have to be jealous of me," Jack spat

"Jack! Ryan! Enough!" their Mam shouted "If you two can't be civil then don't say anything at all. And to make it up for arguing over the dinner table Ryan you can do the dishes and Jack you can take the rubbish out,"

"Oh Mam!" the boys chorused

"Don't you 'oh Mam' me. Off to work boys. Remember cleanliness is next to Godliness,"

Jack shot a dirty look at Ryan who flicked soap bubbles at him as he skulked past with the rubbish bags out into the front garden of their little terraced house.

"Hey Jack!"

"New Girl?" Jack said looking shocked.

There she was. Sitting on the little low wall of his front garden. Pink streaks in her hair and dressed in a very short skirt that Jack could almost see up

"What happened to 'I'll come back tomorrow to liven things up'?"

"Did you miss me?"

"Yeah," Jack breathed quietly "It's been quiet without you new girl," he said

"Always is,"

"How did you find out where I live?"

"I have my ways. I'm bored, want to have some fun?"

"I have chores to do,"

"Boring," Katie cat-called "I have something much more fun," she said holding out a clenched fists towards him

"Close your eyes and open your hand," she said "Go on," Katie prompted as she noticed Jack's hesitancy

Jack sighed and did as she said and felt something drop into his hands. He opened his eyes to find a small bag of white powder in his hands

"Shit Katie is this what I think it is?"

"Well it's not sugar," she said "I told you I could liven things up. A little bit of this and you'll be buzzing,"

"Katie…" Jack began looking shocked

"Jack!" he heard his Mam's voice call from inside

"Shit!" he said and pushed the bag back towards her "I have to go,"

"Jack?" Katie said looking confused

"I have to go," he said "See you at school,"

And with that he turned on his heel and shakily walked back into the house.


End file.
